Pastors Not Preaching the Word of God

QUESTION: What do I do about a church that is falling away, and the congregation knows it, but they are so worried about being "politically correct" in the current sense of the term that they will not get rid of a pastor who is taking the church away from the Bible?  When I talk with a board member privately, my concern never comes up at their meetings.

Your question is difficult to answer without a lot more details about the situation.  For example, when you say that a pastor is taking the church away from the Bible, that can mean a couple of different things:

1. He isn't preaching from the Bible as much as you feel he should (e.g. he is preaching what I call "fluff sermons" wherein he has some moral message or story and is sprinkling in some Bible verses now and then to make it sound "churchy").  While I do not agree at all with that type of teaching, it would be difficult for a church board to remove a pastor based on that alone.  In that case, the pastor should simply be challenged to get back to preaching from God's Word and, if he does not agree, it may be time for you to find a church where the pastor does preach from God's Word more in line with what you expect.  (More on that further below.)

Along those lines, you should always be sure that you are reading God's Word on your own and being heavily involved in a small group Bible study, where you can be challenged.  Sunday morning sermons should be more like "desert", though arguable many people do not read the Word of God as they should and so pastors should be much better about giving "solid food" during that time too.

I personally believe that if there is an error one way or the other, then pastors should attempt to bring those that do not read God's Word up, rather than water down the gospel and risk bringing others down or otherwise not challenge people enough with God's Word.   It's a difficult balance, but really the only way a church is going to grow spiritually (which is not always the same as growing numerically, though they are not mutually exclusive) is if pastors take their leadership roles very seriously, quit worrying about "numbers" and preach the Word of God!

2.  The other possible issue is much more serious, as it is if your pastor is actually preaching things that are contrary to God's Word.  In Mark 7:7, Jesus expressed disdain for abandoning God's Word and following the traditions of men.  The Bible clearly teaches us to test the doctrinal viewpoints, behavior, and claims made by church leaders (Revelation 2:2) and condemn churches that diminish a personal devotion to God (Revelation 2:4); that tolerate immoral church leaders, teachers or laypersons (Revelation 2:14-15, Revelation 2:20); and that become spiritually dead (Revelation 3:17-18).

Of equal importance, if a church teaches people anything contrary to the Bible, the leader thereof can, in a sense, be considered a "false prophet".  Jesus warns us that many false Christs and false prophets will try to lead us astray, especially in the end times (Matthew 24:5; Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:6; and Mark 13:22).

If your pastor is preaching things against God's Word, then you should try to work within your church to get that corrected.  Ideally you can find some others that agree with you, and then talk to some people on the church board so that you can discuss your mutual concerns with your pastor.  The manner in which you do all that is greatly based on what you discern to be the pastor's intentions (is he doing it knowingly or out of ignorance of the Word?)  Neither case is good, but it may be that he could be set back on track in a gentle, loving manner.

Yet I must also give a word of caution, as there are so many issues involved with "church politics".  For example, the board members may be friends of the pastor, and/or perhaps they're selected by the pastor (in which case they can often be of the personality type that he knows won't challenge him).  Many other dynamics can be involved too, such as how long he has been there, what his motives are, how long you have attended the church, and even the size of the church can impact how much influence you may or may not have as one voice alone.

You must be careful not to ruin a pastor's career if it is merely that you do not agree with his preaching style.  There may be a point where you just have to "move on" and gracefully find another church that is better for you.  Undoubtedly there are many, many different types of churches because not everyone agrees 100% on everything, people's tastes differ, etc.  Paul explains in Romans chapter 14 that we must be careful not to argue over "disputable matters."

A resource I can highly recommend is The Church Awakening by Chuck Swindoll.  Since you are obviously someone interested in what a Church should and should not be, you will very likely find it personally helpful.  Once you read it, you can, if appropriate, pass it along to others (perhaps you will feel moved to buy a copy for your church board members if you can — I think every church leader should read this book!).

The book does a great job of challenging today's churches to renew their focus and ministries. It addresses where many churches are falling short these days, as they try to appease the crowds and fail to preach God's Word.

One of my favorite sections begins on page 88 and continues for several pages. In essence, Chuck mentions 2 Timothy 4:2 wherein it reads, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." Chuck makes the point that everything else falls short of preaching the Word of God in the pulpit. He goes on to explain, quite accurately, that way too many churches are failing their mission to teach from the Bible. Rather, they have resorted to marketing strategies and a harmful fixation on entertaining, being "politically correct", being "relevant", and being "in touch".

Chuck makes another good point with the verses found in Matthew 28:19-20 where we read, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." He accurately points out that the command does not just say we evangelize and then the mission is over. Rather, we are to teach people to obey everything that God commanded. A disciple is not one that has a shallow understanding of God's Word and while everyone must start at the beginning, at some point solid spiritual food must be provided within the Church.

I would like to end with these important words from Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Be sure to pray about all that you do so that whatever you do will be held blameless and righteous in the eyes of the Lord.

Related Links:

Pray That You May Escape - discusses the end times, to include Church apostasy

Factors To Consider When Looking For a Good Church
Book Review: The Church Awakening - by Chuck Swindoll

Woman On the Beast the Roman Catholic Church?

The other day I received the following question: "Is the Woman On the Beast (Revelation chapter 17) the Roman Catholic Church?"

In Revelation chapter 17 we read about a curious description wherein a woman is riding on the beast.  The topic is given an entire chapter in God's Word, which starts like this:

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT

THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES

AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Many respected Bible prophecy scholars do believe the woman being described is the Roman Catholic Church, and although, at this point, we do not know with absolute certainty, I have not seen any convincing study that refutes that idea.  We must understand that some of God's prophetic Word is still hidden from us and will not be revealed until it is time.  Another example of that is the identity of the Antichrist and the ethnicity thereof (Muslim, Jew, Roman, ...?).  

We also know that knowledge will increase in the end times (and indeed we are beginning to understand considerably more than we knew even a few decades ago).  This idea of our knowledge increasing in the end times is explained in Daniel 12:4, "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge."

Returning to Revelation 17 and the woman on the beast, we do see some things for sure.  For example, we notice that the woman and the beast are separate entities.  Following the analogy, we also know that a rider controls the animal on which they ride.  Throughout the Bible we know that the Church is given a womanly personification, so it would seem the beast is being controlled by a very powerful "world church".  We see in the text that it is the third mention of seven heads and ten horns.  That provides us clues that it is the same beast that we read comes out of the water in Revelation 13 and that is empowered by Satan, depicted as the dragon, in Revelation 12.  Thus, the conclusion is that a very powerful Church will be used to control the Antichrist (ultimately it is all controlled by Satan himself).

Many believe that mystery Babylon is not actually Babylon (now located in modern day Iraq); but, rather, mystery Babylon is a codename for another city.  As we look at what city could fit the description of seven hills on which she sits (Revelation 17:9), the best fit is clearly where the Vatican is, as it sits on what is called "A city of Seven Hills".  As we see the colors and imagery referred to in Revelation 17:4, they also fit the garb worn by officials of the Roman Catholic Church, and we often see images of the Pope holding various religious symbols, to include a golden cup.

An examination of Catholicism also reveals a lot of false doctrines that do not line up with the Bible, as they are clearly man-made rules.  In Mark 7:7, Jesus expressed disdain for abandoning God's Word and following the traditions of men.  The Bible clearly teaches us to test the doctrinal viewpoints, behavior, and claims made by church leaders (Revelation 2:2) and condemn churches that diminish a personal devotion to God (Revelation 2:4); that tolerate immoral church leaders, teachers or laypersons (Revelation 2:14-15, Revelation 2:20); and that become spiritually dead (Revelation 3:17-18).  

Of equal importance, if a church teaches people anything contrary to the Bible, it can, in a sense, be considered a "false prophet".  Jesus warns us that many false Christs and false prophets will try to lead us astray, especially in the end times (Matthew 24:5; Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:6; and Mark 13:22).

More specific and obvious beliefs and practices of Catholicism which substantially deviate from the Word of God would be as follows:

CONFESSING SINS: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that their members should confess their sins to a priest.  Scripture, however, clearly teaches that we should confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9).  Notice it says "He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; furthermore, no mention whatsoever of confessing sins to a church leader is given (there or elsewhere in scripture).  Indeed it would be a "controlling" religion to require we tell our sins to someone within a man-made system.

MARY: The Roman Catholic Church gives Mary considerable more prominence than the Bible does.  They teach Mary is the "Queen of Heaven", a perpetual virgin, and the co-redemptress who ascended into heaven.  The Bible explains Mary was a servant of God that was chosen to be the mother of Jesus.  Her virginity and obedience to God were the noted characteristics. 

The attributes given to her by the Roman Catholic Church are well beyond anything mentioned in the Bible.  There is no indication that she ascended into heaven as Jesus did (Acts 1:9).  As for Mary being a perpetual virgin, we know that Jesus had siblings, for they are specifically mentioned in the Bible on multiple occasions (Matthew 12:46; Luke 8:19; and Mark 3:31).  In fact, Matthew 13:55 records that Jesus had at least four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. We're also told that Jesus had sisters (Matthew 13:56) though they are not named nor do we know exactly how many.  

There are also other references to His brothers (John 7:1-10; Acts 1:14; and Galatians 1:19).  These siblings are clearly referenced in the Bible, yet many Catholics claim that they were cousins.  In each instance, the Greek word for “brother” is used so reading it any other way is trying to force something into the Bible that is not there.  It stands to reason that Mary and Joseph had offspring and that Jesus, therefore, had half-siblings in His family.  As for Mary being a co-redemptress and another mediator between God and man, that is an extremely dangerous assertion, as only Jesus fills the role of our redeemer (Acts 4:12) and mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).  To put a human on the same level as Jesus--who was and is God, lived a perfect and righteous life, died on the cross, and rose again--is blasphemous.

BAPTISM: The New Testament teaches that baptism was always performed after someone had a saving faith in Christ.  Our salvation is not due to baptism; rather, baptism is a symbol of our profession of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  The Roman Catholic Church also practices baptizing infants, which is a practice that is never found in Scripture.  Acts 16:31 declares that our salvation is by believing in Jesus and the gospel written about Him (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

PRAYER: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that its members should petition Mary and the saints for their prayers.  However, there is not any mention of doing so anywhere in the Bible.  Rather, Jesus taught us, via what is commonly referred to as the "Lord's Prayer", to pray directly to God the Father in heaven (Matthew 6:9).

PRIESTHOOD: The Bible teaches us that we are all a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), yet the Roman Catholic Church teaches that only certain members of the clergy are "priests". Again, this is clearly a man-made idea that inserts a level of authority from the church that does not exist biblically.

As we can see by those few examples, the Roman Catholic Church teaches many things that are just not biblical.  We also know that the organization is extremely political and powerful, wherein Archbishops, and certainly the Pope, command attention from world leaders (in contrast to Jesus, who came in a much more humble manner).  It is, therefore, believed by many that the Roman Catholic Church will be used as a tool of Satan in the end times to accomplish evil deeds and turn people away from biblical truths.  Many also believe it will reach out to other world religions and, in essence, become a "One World Religion" upon which the Antichrist will stand.

Yet, while it is clear that the Roman Catholic Church practices many doctrines that is not biblical, I believe we do need to be cautious when we conclude, for certain, that it is the "woman that rides the beast" described in Revelation 17.  It most certainly is something we should pay attention to.  Moreover, any of us that have friends and family that are trapped within the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church should try to help them out of that situation.  It's a very difficult thing to do, however, because their traditions and beliefs run very deep and, in a cultish way, they are extremely discouraged to challenge what is taught, even if it clearly does not have any biblical support.  

Related Links:

Pray That You May Escape

A Woman Rides the Beast - (book by Dave Hunt)

I am a Catholic, why should I consider becoming a Christian?

The Moral Decay of Society

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

Ironically, while the moral decay of society could be considered more subjective than other prophecy-related topics we study, such as natural disasters, economics, and geopolitics, I believe anyone with a reasonably discerning spirit can see that moral decay is happening now at an alarming and noticeable rate.  We need only watch the news and observe the people around us to see it.  The decay of our accepted morals began slowly, and it has taken several decades (centuries, even) for us to reach the place we are now at.  Not unlike the proverbial “frog in a boiling pot of water,” the heat was slowly turned up until we looked around and realized how dangerous a situation we are now in.  Recently, however, it seems society’s morals are declining faster than ever.

Visit with a young person who attends a public high school (or, sadly, even middle school), and ask what the morals are like among his or her peers.  If the person is candid with you, then prepare to be shocked by the language and attitudes of today’s youth.  If you are an adult thirty years or older, chances are you will note an obvious difference between the morals of youth today and those of when you went to school.   

Today’s public schools are not as worried about kids bringing chewing gum to school but, rather, about kids bringing guns, knives, and drugs to school.  Profanity, rather than being confined to locker rooms and playgrounds, is now commonplace in halls and classrooms.  Sexual overtures, harassment, and crude behavior are all notable among many U.S. teens.  Bill Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, notes that from 1960 to 1993 there has been a 560 percent increase in violent crime, a 419 percent increase in illegitimate births, a quadrupling in divorce rates, a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, more than a 200 percent increase in the teenage suicide rate, and a drop of almost eighty points in SAT scores.¹

A Look at the Entertainment Industry

Without adding to the debate about whether the entertainment industry reflects society, or vice versa, I will just say that most anyone can easily see that the entertainment industry has dramatically changed over the years (particularly television shows and movies).  We have gone from the days when it was risqué to say something like “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” in a movie, to the f-bomb being dropped often and unashamedly.  Consider the stark contrast in TV shows like The Lone Ranger, Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, Gilligan’s Island, and many more to the likes of what the television industry considers entertainment today.

Blasphemy of God’s name, explicit sexual scenes, nudity, extreme violence, adultery, fornication, drug use, disobedient children, and a host of other equally bad themes are prevalent (and arguably more the norm than not) in today’s movies and television shows. It is quite difficult for a Christian family to find a good movie the family can watch without compromising their values. Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that many families, including Christian families, readily compromise their values and accept that this is just “how it is.”² The question all Christians should ask themselves each time they watch a movie is, “Would Jesus approve of what I am about to watch and feed my heart and mind with?” Put another way, if you profess to be a Spirit-filled Christian, would you watch that movie knowing the Holy Spirit is there with you?

Note: my family found the ClearPlay DVD Player to be an invaluable tool for filtering unwanted content from movies we would not otherwise consider watching.  A link to it is at the bottom of this article.

Sinful Lifestyles Lived Openly and Unashamedly

Homosexuality is one of the most obvious examples of sinful lifestyles being lived openly and unashamedly, as the efforts to force acceptance of it continue.  Today, people who embrace that lifestyle deceive themselves into thinking that if they can get the church to accept it, then that will mean that God accepts it as well.

Regrettably, they become agitated at people who stand upon the Word of God and explain that it is not condoned by God.  One needs only to refer to any of the following verses to see that God’s Word is very clear about the matter:

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  (Romans 1:26-27)

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Before I leave the topic of homosexuality being a sin, I want to note that it is very important that we show love to everyone, which certainly includes homosexuals, who are trapped in the lie Satan and society is all too willing to help perpetrate.  Yet it’s equally important to realize that condoning the sin is not possible if one is to adhere to God’s Word.  In fact, politely explaining to people that their sin is not condoned by God actually is showing them considerably more love than pretending it’s all just fine in God’s eyes.  I cannot emphasize enough that to be effective, it must be done diplomatically and lovingly as opposed to harshly or otherwise in a manner inconsistent with Jesus’ own actions.

As for other trends indicating a dramatic moral decline, we also can include the abundance of pornography, which, due to the Internet and cable and satellite TV, has exploded in availability faster than ever before.  The same is true of gambling.  Today’s headlines are filled with news of child abuse, domestic violence, violence being committed by young teenagers, alcohol and drug abuse, and theft (especially in the form of piracy via the Internet).  In fact, much of it is being done openly and unashamedly, and it is discussed and even bragged about as if there is nothing wrong with it.  Only recently has abortion been performed to the massive extent that it is today.  In fact, in the 1800s all states had laws against abortion, and the practice was considered wrong by even non-Christians.  Today, however, over one million abortions are performed in the U.S. every year. Indeed, it’s alarming that nearly half of all pregnancies to American women are unintended and four in ten of these end in abortion.³

Summary

There is no doubt that society’s morals have declined sharply in a relatively short time and that it is continuing to decline as society chooses to “push the envelope.”  Sinful lifestyles, extreme moral decay, and outright apostasy have replaced the fear of God, righteousness, and truth.  While every generation has been accused of being worse than its predecessor, it is clear that the past couple of decades demonstrate the decay has progressed at a much more alarming and identifiable rate.  The proverbial water is assuredly close to its boiling point.  It comes as no surprise, for it bears repeating:

There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

I believe the Rapture could occur at any time now, as we most certainly are living in the last days.

NOTES: 
1.      Bill Bennett, “Quantifying America's Decline”  (Accessed October 1, 2010).
2.      Focus on the Family, “Christians Drive Box Office”   (Accessed September 25, 2010).
3.      Guttmacher Institute, “An Overview of Abortion in the United States” (Accessed September 25, 2010).

Related Links

ClearPlay DVD Player